Help End Prison Gerrymandering Prison gerrymandering funnels political power away from urban communities to legislators who have prisons in their (often white, rural) districts. More than a decade ago, the Prison Policy Initiative put numbers on the problem and sparked the movement to end prison gerrymandering.

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—Peter Wagner, Executive DirectorDonate

Staunton city, Virginia

According to the 2000 Census, Staunton city, Virginia has a population of 23,853 people. Of those, 19,866 (83%) are White, 3,328 (14%) are Black, and 265 (1%) are Latino[1]. However, 967 (or 4% of the 23,853 people) are not residents by choice but are people in prison.

Even though prisoners cannot participate in the local community, the Census Bureau nevertheless counts them as residents of the county where they are incarcerated.

A more accurate description would not include the prisoners. This would give Staunton city a population of 22,886 with a demographic that is 85% White, 12% Black, and 1% Latino.

Reported in
Census 2000		 Incarcerated
population		 Actual
population
Total 23,853 967 22,886
White 19,866 470 19,396
Black 3,328 487 2,841
Latino 265 9 256


Notes:

[1]The numbers for Whites, Blacks and Latinos may not add up to the total number because we have not included racial groups other than Whites and Blacks and because the Census Bureau considers "Latino" to be an ethnicity, not a race. Most of the people reported as being Latino are also counted as being White or Black.



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